Bugatti Type 35 / 51 "petit Coupé Friderich" 1927 / Manual

🇫🇷 In February 1926, Ernest Friderich, a Bugatti dealer in Nice, came up with the bold idea of converting a Type 35A into a small closed coupé to enter it in the spring races on the Côte d’Azur. Friderich won the La Turbie hill climb, finishing ahead of Louis Chiron, who was competing in the racing category. He also won the standing start kilometre race in Nice, the Estérel hill climb and the 500-metre standing start race in Cannes. The bodywork of this coupé subsequently disappeared, and the original chassis, which had been sold on, has never been traced. Only a few period photographs, including one showing Friderich sitting on the coupé’s front spoiler, have helped to preserve the memory of this unique and exquisite car.

It was this story that inspired Bruno Lafourcade and François Chevalier, two long-standing Bugatti enthusiasts and collectors. In 1968, Bruno Lafourcade bought the remains of a Bugatti 35 (chassis no. 4775) from Antoine Raffaëlli. The car was complete at the time, apart from the engine and gearbox.

In 2008, the two friends began to consider the future of this wreck. They then recalled the photographs of Friderich’s little coupé. The decision was made: it would not be a classic 35, but a faithful recreation of that lost coupé that they would build. Bruno Lafourcade had initially wanted an 8-cylinder engine, but the car’s dynamism relies on its small radiator: the choice ultimately fell on a 51-series engine without a supercharger, which runs cooler, fitted with a carburettor as was common in the post-war period.

Laurent Rondoni, of Ventoux Moteurs Ingénierie, took charge of the mechanical work, whilst Lafourcade and Chevalier handled the bodywork. The woodwork was entrusted to Camille Bourges, the veneering to Patrick Barrier, the Weymann roof to Didier Texier, and the paintwork was applied by François Chevalier himself.

The reconstruction, which required significant resources, was completed in 2011. The car made its first public appearance at the Rassemblement International Bugatti en Provence, and was then exhibited at Mathieu Lustrerie later that year as part of an exhibition dedicated to the marque.

It is registered in France and is listed on the vehicle registration document as a Type 35A.